Artists often try to identify themselves – to find their own way ofexpressing themselves in their artworks. To decide once and foreverthat “this is me, and this is how I express myself” means that theartist puts a label on himself; in other words, the artist limitshimself with a certain niche. This is much alike what comprachicos whowere deliberately distorting the physical features of children toamuse the public. One of the ways to do so was to place a child into abarrel so that the body could not grow normally and in the result wehad a crippled creature. When an artist puts imposes certain limits onhimself, there are three possible outcomes: 1. The artist is deprivedof an opportunity to develop normally and the result is ugly. 2. Thosebits and pieces that do not fit into the “barrel” start to get out andreveal themselves, but then they are being cut by art-dealers, criticsand public opinion. 3. The artist shrinks so that it would be moreconvenient to move around in his limited barrel. The signs of it arerepetitions, one and the same solutions, bizarre discussions andpersonal degradation.

Goldfish can serve as an example. If they are placed into a big pond,fed well, they grow into big, gracious and beautiful fish. They can beseen often in Japanese gardens, and they are adorable. But if agoldfish is placed into a small fish tank, it will be a small fish toamuse its owners. If an artist wants to be a small fish in a fishtank, he has the right of choice. No public opinion can make an artistto favour the choice of a fish tank. Also, he has the right not to bea shark in formaldehyde!The artist does not lose his identity as his world and hispossibilities in expressing himself in art expand, as it is thought istrue. The same as a person who was not deformed by the comprachicosbarrel doe not lose his abilities. The only one thing that he cannotdo is to demonstrate his ugliness to the public.